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Pragmatism

Introduction to Communication Research

School of Communication Studies

James Madison University

Dr. Michael Smilowitz

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Pragmatism

Fisher (1978) set this perspective’s defining characteristic to be the “behavior of the communicator as the fundamental component of human communication.”

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Pragmatism

Fisher (1978) set this perspective’s defining characteristic to be the “behavior of the communicator as the fundamental component of human communication.”

What is meant by the term pragmatic?

“Practical application” is an appropriate association. Research in this perspective generally focuses on how people interact.

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• Pragmatics– Relationships of symbols to users.

(Function - the rules for accomplishing interaction)

Pragmatism’s difference from other approaches in the study of language use

• Syntactics– Relationships of symbols to each other.

(Grammar - the rules for putting sentences together)

• Semantics– Relationships of symbols to referents.

(Meaning - the rules for understanding what words signify)

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Consider these examples:

(1) Sue: What time is it?

(2) Sarah: Kelly’s class just ended.

Did Sarah answer Sue?

While most of us would think Sarah’s response is an answer, we certainly wouldn’t think it a good answer unless we expect that Sue and Sarah share a relationship in which they both know the times classes begin and end.

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Consider these examples:

This episode occurred early in a group’s discussion.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) It’s going to be interesting.

(2) We’ve got a lot to do.

(3) We’ll get it done.

(4) How?

This episode occurred in another group at about the same time.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) We’ve got a lot to do.

(2) We’ll get it done.

(3) How?

(4) It’s going to be interesting.

Now decide which of these groups was more effective?

Notice that your arguments likely indicate that the two episodes served different functions because of the apparent difference in the ordering of the messages (they are otherwise identical, aren’t they?).

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Contributions to the Pragmatic Perspective

Fisher’s treatment of the pragmatic perspective depended heavily upon:

• Watzlavic, Beavin & Jackson (1967). The pragmatics of human communication.

• General System Theory.

8Metatheoretical Assumptions about

Communication

• (1) One cannot not communicate.Not to mean that all behavior is communicative, but that we cannot chose to not communicate when interacting. For Fisher, communication and interaction are synonymous.

• (2) Speaker’s intent is unimportant.Not to mean “not important.” The importance of an utterance is the function it servers, not what the speaker hopes the utterance will do.

9Metatheoretical Assumptions about

Communication

• (3) Communication is constrained.Speakers have available to them an infinite repertoire of possible acts. Certain acts are more likely than other acts because of:

(1) the previous message.

(2) the relationship’s history.

(3) the context of the interaction.

10Metatheoretical Assumptions about

Communication

• (4) Communication is punctuated.Communication in this perspective is regarded as a series of events in time. Humans make sense of their communication by organizing/grouping events for meaningful interpretation.

Read the following out loud:

thisisanexampleofhowweorderourworld

Chances are you didn’t read the entire sequence. Instead, you looked at the phrase until you broke it down in to recognizable words. So….the 4th assumption is:

11Intellectual Antecedents to General

System Theory

• Early 20th century philosophers of science disputed the value of analytic and synthetic approaches to generating knowledge.– Analytic To understand something, break

the phenomenon into its smallest components.

– Synthetic To understand something, study the phenomenon for its

inter- relationships.

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von Bertalanffy’s Contribution

• Sought a language basis which scientists in any discipline could use to describe their knowledge claims.

• Assumed (as a biologist, after all) that the living organism is the appropriate metaphor for theory building.

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The Central Credo

The whole isgreater than thesum of its parts.

Known as the “Principle of Non-summativity.

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The Central Credo

How can this be?

A B D EC

A B C D E

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The Central Credo

A

B

C D

E

Get it?The whole is greaterbecause the parts are

added to all the interactionsamong the parts….ahm…ahm…ahm

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The language of GST

The definition of “system”

A system is not a “heap.”

The parts of a heap are not connected to each other.

Another term for a heap is “an aggregate” to mean just a collection of independent components.

A heap

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The language of GST

The definition of “system”

A set of related components bound together in patterned, interdependent relationships.

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The language of GST

Two types of systems:

• Open system

Interacts freely with its environment through a process of inputs-throughputs-outputs.

• Closed system

Completely isolated from its environment.

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The language of general system theory

• The distinction of open versus closed is best thought of as a continuum.

OpenNegentropy(continual system maintenance and growth)

ClosedEntropy (eventual, inevitable system decay)

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More GST language

The concept of equifinality:

Dif

feri

ng in

itia

l con

diti

ons

result in the same end state.

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More GST language

The concept of multifianlity:

Sim

ilar

init

ial c

ondi

tion

sresult in different end states.

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More GST language

• What do the concepts of equifinality and multifinality illustrate about system characteristics?

– The structural characteristics of an open system are inadequate for predicting system outcomes.

– An open system’s interaction with its environment obviously affects its functioning over time.

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More GST language

The principle of “wholeness”

A change in one element of a system necessarily changes all other components.Therefore, to understand the “whole”of

a system, we must examine its:structurefunctionevolution

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More GST language

• Structure– Static characteristics of the system (at a

particular point in time).

• physical components

• spatial components

• communication networks.

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More GST language

• Structure– Dynamic characteristics of the system

(through time).

• actions

• behaviors

• any thing that ends an “-ing:

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More GST language

• Evolution

– changes in the characteristics of the system (over time).

• changes in structural arrangements

• changes in the functioning of the system

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Contributions of General System Theory

• Focuses attention on the interdependence of components.

• Emphasizes the dynamic nature of many phenonomena.

• Invites comprehensive theorizing about interaction.

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Criticisms of General System Theory

• Provides little more than a new jargon.

• Provides little new explanation.

• Provides an attractive, but not “doable” research agenda.

• Maintains a “mechanistic” view of human behavior.

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Pragmatism’s Metatheoretical Assumptions

• Stochastic Probability

Stochastic analysis assesses the probabilities of occurrence of subsequent state from an antecedent state.

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Pragmatism’s Metatheoretical Assumptions

• Stochastic Probability– Pragmatism ignores causal or quasi-deterministic

explanations.• “If (antecedent) then (consequence) predictive explanations

argue that the antecedent condition is a sufficient condition to anticipate the occurrence of the consequence.

• A claim about a stochastic relationship is a statement about the probability (likelihood) of a subsequent state (event) occurring after a specified precedent state (occurrence).

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Pragmatism’s Metatheoretical Assumptions

• Locus of communication?

In the ongoing sequence of interactive behaviors.

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Areas of Research

• Interpersonal– Relational communication studies investigating

the control dimension of communication

• Small Group– Identification of effective discussion practices

• Organizational– System coordination

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Advantages

• Useful tools for the study of interaction.

• Draws attention to the complexities of human interaction.

• Provides insight into the patterns of communication in a variety of contexts.

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Disadvantages

• Complex statistical procedures.

• Difficulties in identifying meaningful categories for analysis.

• Assumes sequences are meaningful to communicators.